History
The district was created in 1973 by merging the previous districts Buchen and Mosbach. At first it was named Odenwaldkreis, however to avoid confusion with the neighboring district in Hesse with the same name it was renamed in 1974 to be Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis.

Geography
As the name already suggests the district is located in the Odenwald mountains, with the highest elevation at the Katzenbuckel (626 m) near Waldbrunn in the west of the district. The main river of the district is the Neckar.

The coat of arms show the symbols of the two historic rulers of the district. To the left is the blue-white checkered symbol of the Wittelsbach family as owner of the Palatinate, to the right is the wheel of Mainz.